Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) admission that the $1.5 billion rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery was unsuccessful confirms his long-standing advocacy for the privatisation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
Atiku made the assertion in a statement posted on his X handle on Sunday, reacting to comments credited to the NNPCL that the Port Harcourt Refinery remains unprofitable despite the huge investment.
The NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, had disclosed that Nigeria’s refineries were operating at what he described as a “monumental loss,” prompting management to halt operations in order to prevent further financial losses.
“On the refineries, Nigerians were angry. A lot of money has been spent, and expectations were very high. So we were under extreme pressure,” Ojulari said.
He added, “The first thing that became clear is that we were running at a monumental loss to Nigeria. We were just wasting money. We were spending heavily on operations and contractors, but in net terms, we were simply leaking value.”
Reacting to the remarks, Atiku described the admission as belated but significant, insisting it underscores the economic futility of continued public funding of moribund refineries.
“After gulping $1.5 billion, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has now admitted that reopening the Port Harcourt Refinery is a waste of scarce resources,” Atiku said.
“This belated admission validates my long-held position that Nigeria’s refineries should be privatised,” he added.
The former vice president said the development shows that the current administration has finally acknowledged what he called an inevitable truth—that pouring public funds into non-performing refineries is economically indefensible.
He further criticised the continued payment of salaries and overheads to facilities that do not produce refined petroleum products, arguing that such expenditure does not serve the national interest.
Atiku recalled that his calls for privatisation in the past were met with intense criticism and accusations of attempting to sell public assets to associates.
“For years, I advanced this patriotic position and was vilified, accused of plotting to sell public assets to ‘friends.’ Today, the facts have caught up with the rhetoric,” he said.
According to him, decades of turnaround maintenance have consumed billions of dollars without yielding results, exposing structural deficiencies in capacity, technical competence, and financial discipline.
He also argued that the latest attempt to revive the refineries was driven more by political pressure than economic logic, warning that politics should not replace sound policy-making.
Atiku maintained that any proposed refinery arrangements, including those involving foreign partners, should be discontinued, as they merely repeat approaches that have previously failed.
“Nigeria would have been better served by selling the refineries before rehabilitation to avoid ballooning debt and the continued depreciation of assets that have effectively become liabilities,” he added.
